A young man used to be a basketball star in high school. He was fast and nicknamed 'Rabbit'. One night he goes home to his wife, far gone with their second child. He finds her disgusting, or worse, boring. She wants him to go out and pick up their son.
When he gets in his car he decides to hit the open road instead. He listens to the radio and heads south. He has had enough of this life and he wants to see the rest of the world. He stops and ponders his map and decides to head back north. (This is where the novel lost me.)
He doesn't go home. Instead, he shacks up with a woman he meets. He makes contact with his wife's minister, but no one else from their families. The minister plays it soft, deciding that the couple should make contact on their own time.
The time comes when his wife gives birth. They get back together and for a time, everything is good. That fades as Rabbit's selfishness gets the better of him. The consequences are very harsh. Rabbit takes flight again.
Was it a good novel? I'm not sure. Rabbit might be the most unlikeable protagonist that I ever remember reading about. Selfish, vain and constantly justifying himself as too good for the people around him. Updike said that he wrote this story in response to 'On the Road', to show how people on the run hurt those they leave behind. The author succeeds in making him unlikeable. That doesn't necessarily make it a good read.
The entire thing is written in present tense ('Rabbit walks towards the door.') which feels gimmicky. You get used to it but it feels forced and arty.
This is the first book in a series, two of the others won Pulitzer prizes, so someone obviously liked it. I guess it just wasn't my style.
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